After qualifying for the men’s 3-meter springboard semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics, Carolina diver Anton Down-Jenkins sent himself through to the medal round where he placed 8th out of 12 competitors.

Down-Jenkins qualified for the medal round by placing 8th out of 18 in the semifinals. He is the first male diver to represent New Zealand at the Olympics since 1984 and only the second Tar Heel ever to dive at the Games along with Mexico’s Aranza Vazquez, who also competed this year in Tokyo.

It was the end of a hard road for Down-Jenkins, who told Sky TV that he was “really overwhelmed” at the start of the Olympic festivities.

But Down-Jenkins drew inspiration from Simone Biles’ statements on mental health during the gymnastics competition. “That was just so awesome to see that such a high profile athlete was putting her mental health first,” he said. “To see other people struggling, it wasn’t just me, that was really interesting to see and it helped me a little bit.”

Down-Jenkins will now return to Chapel Hill, where he’s expected to compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards as well as the platform for the Tar Heels.


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